1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to funeral caskets and urns, and more particularly to caskets and urns that are formed to reflect world-renowned automobiles.
2. Description of the Related Art
Customized funeral services are becoming increasingly popular today. Funeral services now feature items and novelties that are meaningful commemorations of the decedent""s life. Many family members include photos or other displays of the deceased partaking in their favorite hobbies and pastimes. Also, many people include some of the deceased""s favorite heirlooms and keepsakes in the casket with the deceased when they are buried. Many people are comforted by the fact that when they die they will be able to take some of their favorite items with them, and that their funeral services will truly reflect their personality.
Depending on the hobbies and interests of the deceased it may often be difficult to include the deceased""s keepsakes as part of the funeral service. Many people are very passionate about their automobiles. Some people will care for an automobile and retain ownership of a special car for most of their life. It is impossible, however, to have the automobile present in the funeral home or in the casket with the deceased. It would be desirable for many people to have passion or affection for automobiles, or particular models of automobiles, remembered in their funeral services to truly reflect their personality.
The following patent documents disclose examples of caskets and other articles that have been designed to reflect people""s passion for automobiles.
U.S. Design Pat. No. 417,058, issued to Royal et al., discloses the ornamental design of a mailbox shaped like an automobile. The body of the mailbox is the form of a racecar and the hood of the racecar is opened to receive and retain mail.
U.S. Design Pat. No. 441,171, issued to Vergakis, discloses an ornamental design of an automobile shaped mailbox. This design provides a bottom base portion and top portion that is shaped like a racecar. The bottom portion includes a door that opens to receive mail into the bottom portion of the mailbox.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,619,785 issued to Tambussi discloses a method of making a metal casket. The metal casket includes a main body compartment and a lid component. A pair of handles is disposed on either side of the main body component. The lid releasable fits on top of the main body component so the lid may be removed to allow access to the interior of the casket.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,370,744 issued to Mendez discloses a car shaped coffin. The coffin is formed as a stylized, generic automobile. The coffin includes a base unit, which represents the chassis of a generic automobile. The coffin also includes a lid portion that represents the top portion, including windows and a roof, of a generic automobile. The coffin further includes all of the common features of an automobile including doors, fenders, bumpers, and a license plate.
People who are interested in automobiles are typically attached to very specific automobiles. These people would not want their remains to be stored in a casket or urn depicting an automobile unless it depicted the exact automobile that they were particularly passionate about. Therefore, what is needed is caskets and urns that are designed to reflect classic and world-renowned automobiles. What is further needed is caskets and urns that feature the very lines, curves and recognizable styling of specific automobiles themselves. What is still further needed are caskets and urns that may feature authentic nameplates and hood ornaments of the particular vehicles to enhance the authentic look of the caskets and urns.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus vehicle shaped caskets and urns solving the aforementioned problems are desired.
The vehicle shaped caskets and urns of the present invention are stylized funeral containers that are configured to reflect the particular features of specific automobiles. The funeral containers include a body portion, a lid portion and a mounting base member. The body portion reflects the features of the lower chassis that are particular to specific automobiles, including headlights, bumpers, fenders and doors. The lid portion reflects the features that are particular to the top portion of specific vehicles, including a windshield, a trunk, and windows. The lid portion is connected to the body portion by a plurality of hinges and comprises a hood section and a roof section. The mounting base portion is positioned underneath the body portion to provide support for the funeral container.
An interior body retaining compartment is located inside of the body portion of the casket. The lid portion of the casket is lifted to allow access to the body retaining compartment. The lid portion has a lifting lip that is positioned along the contacting surfaces of the lid portion and the body portion of the casket. The lifting lip allows someone to separate the lid portion from the body portion. The lid portion pivots open about a plurality of hinges that connect the lid portion to the body portion. The casket is designed so that either the entire lid portion can be opened or either the hood section or the roof section of the lid portion may be opened separately. To place the deceased into the casket it is necessary to open the entire lid portion. For viewing the deceased during the funeral services only one section of the lid portion needs to be opened.
A plurality of authentic identification members are located on the base member and the body portion of the casket to enhance the authenticity of the caskets. The authentic identification members contain features that are particular to individual automobiles and help reflect the actual appearance of the automobile. Particularly, the caskets include nameplates and authentic hood ornaments that appear on the actual automobiles.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the invention to provide caskets and urns that are designed to reflect classic and world renowned automobiles
It is another object of the invention to provide caskets and urns that feature the very lines, curves and recognizable styling of specific automobiles themselves.
It is a further object of the invention to provide caskets land urns that may feature authentic nameplates and hood ornaments of the particular vehicles to enhance the authentic look of the caskets and urns.
It is an object of the invention to provide improved elements and arrangements thereof for the purposes described which is inexpensive, dependable and fully effective in accomplishing its intended purposes.
These and other objects of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings.